Hair Color
by Koshary
Summary: [Postmovie].Using Al Elric's strange hair color as an excuse, a group of extremist Thule Society members in the police force drag Officer Hughes along and barge into the Elrics' apartment to force answers out of the Heiderich 'lookalike'. T for safety.


**Note** This is my 1st ever FMA fanfic. I didn't come across any fics with Officer Hughes of our world in it, so I guess this makes one of the first. Please tell me anything useful that can make me improve my writing, because this could be a lot better! The idea of the story just popped into my head a few days ago. :D

**Main Characters: **Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Our World's Maes Hughes and Noah.

**Full Summary:** Movie Spoilers. The extremists continuing to aid the Thule Society don't see Alphonse Elric's hair color as blonde, so he can't be accepted, even as a part-Aryan. But that's just an excuse they're using. The main thing is: where did he come from? His striking similarity to a late Alfonse Heiderich is unnerving. Is he a 'demon' in disguise? Officer Hughes learns an important lesson when he and fellow officers have to go to the Elric's place of residence and force answers out of the 'Heiderich look-alike'.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned FMA, I would have been wracking my brains for a good plotline for a second season.

Officer Hughes walked silently with the group. The night sky was unstable with occasional lightening and thunder. The sound of their footsteps was muffled by the rain that has been going on for a couple of hours. Edward and Alphonse's small house came into view, and he again - for the hundredth time since his fellow officers had decided it - felt very unsure about whether they should be doing this.

He had been there, about two weeks ago since all those strange incidents took place. He rushed into the old palace to find the gypsy girl Noah holding a dead Alfonse Heiderich on the floor, an upset but determined Edward Elric, and an Alphonse look-alike he soon discovered to be Edward's younger brother from that 'other world'.

The boy looked almost exactly like Heiderich – he even had some of his habits, like placing his hand as a fist on his heart and smiling broadly whenever someone asked him if something is the matter. He was just as optimistic, kind and mild-mannered as the older Alphonse before him was. Hughes sometimes had to remind himself that they were NOT the same person.

"They live here, right?" a tall man with a thick moustache beside him asked, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked up ahead and indeed saw the old building. A couple of lights were on inside.

"Hmm." was all he said, and he fell back into his silent, unnoticed contemplation. His guilt and conscious went back to their restless pacing. Extreme peer pressure aside, did he _really_ believe that this new Alphonse did not deserve to be treated well like the rest of the Germans? Was he really lesser than the rest of them? Was he lesser than _him_, a dark-haired man with greenish eyes? He is supposed to be in the same position as Alphonse…but people overlook Hughes for some reason. They don't really respect him, but they don't harm him, either.

All too soon, he and the gang of men that had dragged him along were at the door of the Elric's home – and Noah's place to stay. Their leader, a muscular man who was huge both vertically and horizontally stepped up ahead of everyone else and knocked on the door.

"Hughes," the man – Hoffman – said in his curt, low voice, "Get over here."

Hughes started, and came to stand beside the big man. He knew why he specifically called _him_.

"Tell them to open the door, and tell them it's 'Urgent Security Checks. Orders of the Chief of Police'. They know you."

Hughes wanted to tell the man that even though they knew him, they'll never believe such a lame excuse, and Edward will never trust him. Not after knowing that he had willingly joined the Nazis.

The door opened a tiny fraction, and a big brown eye appeared from the crack. A girl's eye. Noah's.

They all felt it when the girl tensed up immediately at the sight of them, "_Ja? Guten_ _Abend _(Good evening)"

"_Guten Abend_, Noah." Hughes said in the calmest, most serious voice he could muster, while trying to sound non-threatening and sincere at the same time.

"Me and my fellow officers are here because of the Chief of Police's orders. We have to search all houses in this neighborhood…and the neighboring ones, as well."

"Wha..t? _Warum_ (Why)?!"

"Orders, missy." The leader of the squad replied shortly. He looked at the Roma with disdain. "We have laws and regulations to keep things organized and secure, unlike the way _you_ and your people live. We don't go with the flow," and with that, he pushed her aside with one muscular arm and marched through the door.

"Wait! Y – You can't jus -!"

"Noah? Is something wrong?" a voice came from inside. A man with long blond hair tied in a ponytail came out of a room, holding a pair of scissors. Noah gave him a helpless look. He saw the men in black uniform – six of them – swarm through the door. And he saw Hughes with them.

"What the _hell_ is going on?! This isn't a bar you and your cronies can get into anytime you want, Hughes!" he shouted, reminding him of a similar day at a nearby bar. Alfonse had been alive at the time.

Before Hughes could answer, another man replied, "We're not following _Hughes's_ orders, Mr. Elric. We're here because of superior's orders –."

"What is this RUBBISH?"

"– and we don't question orders issued out for us. We just follow."

Edward was already guessing what they were here for. They must have known he had automail, somehow. He hadn't really seen people be taken away because of their missing limbs, but he had heard that people wanted it done, to remove all the 'weak links' from society.

"Hey, is something the matter?!" a soft voice came from inside the room Ed had just come out of.

Hughes stiffened, the feelings of guilt returning.

They young man they had come for came out to stand behind his brother. His hair of color unknown to them was loose down to his shoulders and he had a towel underneath it. He had been about to have it cut, if the scissors Ed were holding were not meant to be used as a weapon.

Every one of the six men turned to stare it him, then squint, trying to tell what color the hair of the boy was. The boy squirmed under their gazes, still oblivious to what was going on. His calm silver eyes travelled and locked with Hughes's.

"Um, is there something you need, Officer?" he asked politely with a smile, to try and steer them away from Ed's less pleasant way of addressing, especially since Ed seemed to treat the Hughes of this world with little respect as it was. Ed was suddenly glaring more viciously at all of them, as if he suddenly knew what they were here for. What was the reason? Alphonse wasn't sure yet.

"He really looks and acts like Heiderich…" one of the officers who worked with Hughes on the same street whispered loudly to the man beside him, as if to confirm to everyone that they hadn't come here to waste their time, or for the 'trivial' reason of checking somebody's hair color. The older Elric's hair was a screaming blond, so he generally would be accepted by the German community, even if his eyes were not the right color.

"Well, Mr. Elric." Hoffman addressed Al: "We're here for _you_. You're coming with us to answer a few questions –."

"He's not going with _anybody_." Edward said in a very low voice. His eyes dilated.

"We're just going to ask him a few questions." Hoffman stated coolly, "If he answers us truthfully, we'll bring him right back."

"What questions?!"

"Why does he look like somebody who's been shot to death?"

"IT WAS BASTARDS LIKE YOU WHO KILLED HIM!!" Ed's sudden outrage made everyone start.

"Brother…"

"YOU THINK I'LL JUST SIT TIGHT AND WAIT TILL YOU TAKE SOMEONE AND NEVER BRING THEM BACK?!"

"You know you can get in trouble for back-talking to an officer?" the leader commented nonchalantly.

"LIKE I GIVE A D -!"

He sighed, "Restrain him. And the Gypsy Madchen (Girl)."

In a second the atmosphere accelerated to mayhem. Edward shouting obscenities and viciously trying to fight off officers (four of them), things breaking and furniture flying and Noah finally restrained, crying in the leader's strong grasp, and Al trying to fight off the officers restraining his brother. Hughes came over and dragged the boy (who was much stronger than he looked!) away and kept a hold of him. One of the four officers on Edward came over to assist. Somehow, after receiving some nasty cuts and bruises, Hughes finally managed to cuff Al's hands and pin him to the wall. The other officer went back to help his partners control the short but ferocious older Elric after he had knocked out one officer cold.

"Listen to me!" Hughes whispered urgently to Al. Al slowed his struggling, "Just humor me, ok? I'll get you out of this. Trust me."

Al looked up curiously at him, but said nothing. Hughes noticed how the boy almost stopped fighting after gazing at him with his silver orbs. Was the boy really that trusting, even towards people who were so obviously his _enemies_? Al also got that look on his face whenever he looked at Hughes – the same look Edward got which Hughes could never quite understand, as if he reminded them of someone dear.

"_Now_," Hoffman spoke up again, very coldly this time, "You're going to talk, Edward Elric?"

"What the ******** do you want?!" Ed spat, looking at the man trapping Noah with utter spite.

"Where did this 'younger brother' of yours come from?"

Edward talked anyway, even though he knew they were going to deny every word: "Your friend there –," he nodded his head at Hughes "- should have told you about what happened. I already said it before! That crazy bitch Eckheart used alchemy and opened the gate separating this world and my own world. This is my little brother and he came through to here!"

"Sound like something that crazy old man Mabuze would say." Hoffman said "That's all you have to offer as an explanation? Very well – I expected that. Hughes, seize the boy. Take him to the station and don't let him breathe until he gives you some answers."

Hughes gave Alphonse's shoulder a reassuring squeeze invisible to the others, then clamped some of his hair and yanked his whole head back – hard. Al cried in sudden pain, and Hughes pulled out a gun, cocked it and placed it against the boy's exposed throat, "My pleasure."

"Let him GO! What are you going to do?!" Edward shouted, restarting his struggle against the three men holding him, and managing to break someone's teeth.

"May I tell you, Mr. Elric, that our chief has given us permission to do whatever we see fitting of the situation at hand. So there isn't anything you can really do against us if you don't cooperate." Hoffman's tone turned from cold to downright malicious, "Ever heard of what happens in prisons, Elric? Of course, we can always call any...losses that occur in there that the accused has committed suicide. This boy here better have better answers and manners than you or you will be spending your day tomorrow looking for a casket good enough to collect all the pieces, or those you'll actually get back."

He saw the color leave the older Elric's face, but the anger only doubling on his features, "You – What are you -!"

"Think again, boy. The fact that he's no Aryan gives us every right to be rid of him." He turned to Hughes, "Take him outside."

Hughes was already making a show of choosing some part of Al's face to put a hole into – with a twisted look in his eyes, occasionally placing the muzzle of the pistol to his face. The look in Alphonse's eyes gave the impression of curiosity, but there was also fear and shock at what was happening. Upon hearing the command, he dragged Alphonse past Edward.

"YOU! No – don't… leave him ALONE!! He didn't do anything! Please!" Hughes almost stopped to turn and gape at Edward. The boy's demeanor had changed 180 degrees when he realized he couldn't save his brother. His voice now carried an edge of fear and pleading. He really must be thinking he's never going to see his younger brother again. But Hughes didn't turn around to look, and continued forward, with Al trying to resist and looking back at Ed.

"Brother – I'll be okay! Don't worry…"

Hughes could have sworn that the noise Ed made behind him was an attempt to bite back a sob, but he never turned around.

Hughes took the boy out of the house and walked him to a narrow, empty alleyway that was the meeting spot agreed upon by him and the other officers. He fumbled in the dark until he found a key.

"Alphonse," he started as he slowly began undoing the black cuffs on Al's wrists, "I want you and your brother to leave Munich. Leave Germany if you can. Go somewhere where people are just a little bit smarter than here. Well, at least till people here come back to their senses, because I want you two to return someday."

"Officer Hughes…"

"I was there when you came with Edward. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I do believe that that thing – that hole or whatever it was – was the entrance to another world. I've seen you and Edward and Eckheart come out of it. I heard your conversations and saw you close that portal. I saw everything, and I also know that no demon can ever imitate someone as gentle and so foolishly human like Alfonse Heiderich."

The officer looked at Al's round face, calm features and soulful eyes. He felt a strange desire to cry. He felt that it had been partly his fault, somehow, that Heiderich was gone forever.

"I've done something stupid. I joined the Nazis…and…your brother had looked so…so _betrayed_ when he found out. He looked more hurt than I ever imagined he could be…"

He looked at Al for a moment, then asked, "Did you two know someone who looked like me in your world?"

Al nodded, a sad but fond smile forming on his lips, "Yes. His name was also Hughes. He was one of the best friends we ever had…even though Brother never said it, to me and him he was as close to being our surrogate father as anyone could get. He looked out for us out of his own free will. You know something?" Hughes shook his head questioningly, "I think Brother also felt scared for you – without knowing it."

"_Scared_ for _me_? Why?"

"Because Mr. Hughes of our world also joined in a chase he shouldn't have. And because of it…he died."

"Is that so?" Hughes whispered.

"Yeah."

"_Where is he?_ WHERE IS HE?!" Ed's voice echoed faintly from a distance. Both men turned.

"…Brother must have gotten away!" Hughes saw Al's brow crease with worry, and…exasperation? "I have to get him before he does anything stupid…"

"No need. He's coming closer. Listen."

But Al was already moving. In the dark, he didn't see the protruding piece of sharp metal poking out of the wall to his left. As he moved quickly by it, the edge tore the fabric of his shirt nearly in two, and left a thin bloody line on his stomach. He took in a sharp breath of surprise and pulled out the fabric.

"Wait! Hold it, don't pull. Just a sec–."

And it was at this moment that Edward, Noah and the now-unconscious officer they had kidnapped for directions came to a halt at the alleyway entrance, gasping for breath. Of course, seeing Alphonse's shirt torn almost in two with blood on his stomach and Hughes standing close wasn't a position in Hughes's favor.

Before Al could react, Ed had lunged at Hughes, his fist colliding with the side of the man's head fiercely. The right lens of his glasses broke, and he fell to the cold ground.

"You son of a - ." Edward was on him again, and pulled him up roughly by his collar. Hughes cringed at the murderous look on Ed's face "And I thought you were one of the few people here who had some decency!"

"Edward, I didn't – !"

Another punch to his face left the other lens broken, his left eye bruised, and a piece of glass stuck to the skin right above his eye. He grunted, clapping a hand to it.

"Brother! _Stop_ beating him! He didn't do _anything_!"

Ed didn't fight back as his brother pushed him off of Hughes, and watched, worried and confused as Al leaned down and gently pulled the glass shard out of Hughes's skin.

"Ungh…thanks." Hughes stood up and held Al's shoulders: "Listen to me, Alphonse. I want you two to leave _as soon as possible_. Leave tomorrow morning before Hoffman gets the both of you. I know that travel carriages pass by close to here once every day. Noah must know about them more. You pack your things and leave somewhere safe and remember to write to me. Understood?"

Content with Al's nod and smile, he let the boy go, almost reluctantly.

"Leave that guy to me. I'll take care of him." Hughes added, referring to the unconscious officer on the ground.

"Let's go, Brother. We're leaving." Al said, leading both confused Brother and Noah. "Oh! What happened to the other officers, Brother?"

"Finally knocked them out."

Al just sighed.

"Hey! You do that all the time, too, Al!" Ed walked beside his brother and asked him, "Are you really okay? Did he dare try to tortu…?"

Al smiled gently at Ed's worried voice: "No, I'm really fine, Brother. Officer Hughes was just telling me how to escape this city. He's not a bad person, just a bit less confident than the Hughes _we_ knew – Oh! I forgot something!" he said and ran back before Ed could ask for any elaboration.

He turned around. Al was talking to Hughes again. When the officer's face changed from curiosity to shock, Al turned around with a big smile and jogged back to his brother's side.

"What happened? What did you say to him?"

Al laughed, and the sound of it automatically made Ed smile: "I told him he should get enough nerve to ask for Gracia's hand in marriage. I told him I knew he could do it because the Hughes of our world did. And I asked him 'For old time's sake, if your baby was a girl, may you please name her Elysia?'"


End file.
